Search - The Da Vinci Code

A puzzle with the pieces being decoded and collected (with this clue leading to another clue, to another.....) by a professional symbologist to solve an ancient Christian mystery. Excellent story and riveting theories. It's entertaining fiction, not fact.

This was another fascinating read by this author. I didn't feel the need to read it as fast as "Angels & Demons" since I had seen the movie, but that didn't take away from the book at all. It's a story that really makes you think about things that we've been told and how history is written by the "winners" and people with an agenda. The characters in this book are well-written and I really appreciate how Langden is a smart man, but not a know-it-all, so that when he makes mistakes or misses clues it's believable. I hate characters who are the know-it-all types that I've read in some books but always miss the obvious when it counts. I highly recommend this book!

While this was a decent read, it lost something for me when I find out that the "all of the details of this book are true" message in the front is yet another lie. Forget about all of the controversy -- even the details about the Louvre weren't correct. Certainly takes Brown's credibility way down in my opinion.

Certainly a provocative read and definitely a page turner, but just because you want to see what happens next doesn't mean that it's an engrossing book. Great for a rainy afternoon of kicking around and just reading something for the heck of it, but no great work of literature here. Enjoy it for what it is and don't expect anything more from it.

Spell binding. Could not put it down.

The story opens with the murder of Jacques Sauniere, an elderly curator at the Louvre, who has left behind many clues that lead to who his murderer is. Of course, you have to be able to read the clues and the clues point to two people. One directly points to Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist in Paris, who is an expert on symbols. The other indirectly points to his estranged granddaughter Sophie Neveu, who he has essentially raised since the death of her parents when she was a child.

Robert Langdon was supposed to meet with Jacques Sauniere the evening before the discovery of Sauniere’s murder. That along with the cryptic and macabre message left by Sauniere leads the French police to believe Langdon is the killer. But, Sauniere’s granddaughter, Sophie, arrives at the Louvre and helps Langdon avoid arrest and together the two scour the city of Paris looking for the clues that will lead them to the real killer.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It’s very fast paced but I was surprised when I read the book to realize that the entire story takes place over the course of a roughly 24-hour period.

A few things kind of drove me nuts. One, if these two people can figure out obscure clues and hints – you would think they’d know an armored vehicle has a tracking device. Especially when that armored vehicle is from a vault with the security levels the one they essentially stole it from did. Two, there is something that caused the estrangement between Sophie and her grandfather. It’s constantly referred to but it takes forever for Brown to reveal what the thing is. And, what it turns out to be, doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal – especially since she just chose to not discuss the issue with her grandfather.

There are a lot of symbol references and I liked trying to figure them out. I did figure out one of the symbols before the characters in the book. I’m pretty proud of myself for that.

This is the second book featuring Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon. Unlike the movies, 'Angels and Demons' actually comes first.

As far as action thrillers go, this book was good but not great. Yes, it kept me reading. It was interesting enough to keep me engaged. But there was also a lot about the book that I hated.

I understand that this book is fiction. And I would have no issues with the religious animosity and blatant anti-Christian propaganda if this book were strictly claiming to be just a work of fiction. But it's not. Brown clearly states in the opening pages that everything in the book (minus the actual fictional characters and plot) is fact. He attempts to present his fictional story around what he claims to be well-researched, documented, historical and religious fact. People who hate the book because of its anti-Christian content are told, "Lighten up, it's only fiction!" while people who love the book because of its anti-Christian content proclaim, "Look at what the Church has never told us! And all of it's true!" Brown has expertly played both sides and it seems that he has the book sales to prove it.

For anyone with even the slightest understanding of early church history (or any early history at all) they will find the claims in this book to be laughable. Sadly, millions of people have taken this work of 'fiction' as gospel truth (and have used it as 'credible' ammunition when rejecting the real gospel as truth.) Brown's hatred is obviously directed specifically at the Catholic church. I'm not sure why the multitude of Protestant denominations were left unscathed...perhaps he is saving their inclusion for a future book.

In all, if you can completely suspend all sense of accuracy when it comes to history (this is fiction after all, right?) then this book is an interesting read on an Indiana Jones/ conspiracy theory/ international scandal type of level. But the moment you take it as more than fiction, it sinks into poorly veiled ideological propaganda and the story itself becomes nothing more than a means for Brown to attempt a rewrite of otherwise well-documented history.

It's no surprise that so many books have been written in response to this one. Since Brown claims that everything in the book is true, it's only fair for others to point out the difference between what is true and what is embellishment, fabrication, and blatant misrepresentation of fact. For a solid, well-researched, well-documented counterpoint to The DaVinci code, I recommend 'The DaVinci Hoax' by Carl E. Olson and Sandra Miesel.